In many areas of the world, there are large deposits of viscous petroleum, such as the Athabasca and Peace River regions in Canada, the Jobo region in Venezuela and the Edna and Sisquoc regions in California. These deposits are generally called tar sand deposits due to the high viscosity of the hydrocarbons which they contain. These deposits may extend for many miles and occur in varying thickness of up to more than 300 feet. Although tar sands may lie at or near the earth's surface, generally they are located under substantial overburden which may be as great as several thousand feet thick. Tar sands located at these depths constitute some of the world's largest presently known petroleum deposits.
Tar sands contain a viscous hydrocarbon material, commonly referred to as bitumen, in an amount which ranges from about 5 to about 20 percent by weight. Bitumen is usually immobile at typical reservoir temperatures. For example, at reservoir temperatures of about 48.degree. F., bitumen is immobile, having a viscosity frequently exceeding several thousand poises. At higher temperatures, such as temperatures exceeding 200.degree. F., bitumen generally becomes mobile with a viscosity of less than 345 centipoises.
Since most tar sand deposits are too deep to be mined economically, a serious need exists for an in situ recovery process wherein the bitumen is separated from the sand in the formation and recovered through production means e.g. a well drilled into the deposit. In situ recovery processes known in the art include emulsification drive processes, thermal techniques (such as fire flooding), is situ combustion, steam flooding and combinations of these processes.
Any in situ recovery process must accomplish two functions. First, the viscosity of the bitumen must be reduced to a sufficiently low level to fluidize the bitumen under the prevailing conditions. Secondly, sufficient driving energy must be applied to treated bitumen thereby inducing it to move through the formation to a well or other means for transporting it to the earth's surface.
As previously noted, among the various methods that have been proposed for recovering bitumen in tar sand deposits are heating techniques. Because steam is generally the most economical and efficient thermal energy agent, it is clearly the most widely employed.
Several steam injection processes have been suggested for heating the bitumen. One method involves a steam stimulation technique, commonly called the "huff and puff" process. In such a process, steam is injected into a well for a certain period of time. The well is then shut in to permit the steam to heat the oil. Subsequently, formation fluids, including bitumen, water and steam, are produced from the well along with sand. Production is later terminated and steam injection is preferably resumed for a further period. Steam injection and production are alternated for as many cycles as desired. A principle drawback to the "huff and puff" technique is that it does not heat the bulk of the oil in the reservoir and consequently reduces the oil recovery.
Another problem with steam drive is that the driving force of the steam flooding technique is ultimately lost when breakthrough occurs at the production well. Steam breakthrough occurs when the steam front advances to a production well and steam pressure is largely dissipated through the production well. Fluid breakthrough causes a loss of steam driving pressure characterized by a marked diminution in the efficiency of the process. After steam breakthrough the usual practice, as suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 3,367,419 (Lookeren) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,354,954 (Buxton), is to produce without steam drive until further steam injection is necessitated or production terminated. These patents are incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,259,186 (Dietz), for example, appears to have an early teaching for conventional "huff and puff". The patent discloses a method for recovering viscous oil from subterranean formations by simultaneously injecting steam into an injection well to heat the formation. Formation fluids are then produced from the injection well. After several cycles, steam drive can be established if several adjacent injection wells have been used by injecting steam into one injection well while using another for production. U.S. Pat. No. 3,280,909 (Closmann et al) discloses a conventional steam drive comprising steam injection to produce interconnecting fractures, but insufficient to produce oil, followed by steam drive at conventional pressures and rates. Thus, the heating and driving phases are entirely distinct. These patents are incorporated herein by reference.
Steam also releases unconsolidated formation sand grains as it lowers the viscosity of the formation oil. Formation oil, thus released, will be free to move with the oil of reduced viscosity as the formation is produced.
Therefore, what is needed is an efficient method to produce an unconsolidated or loosely consolidated formation, control formation fines, and still allow steam contact with oil in place in the formation.